


The Genius' Family

by EideticPrettyBoySpence



Category: Criminal Minds (US TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-20
Updated: 2020-07-20
Packaged: 2021-03-04 23:06:37
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,643
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25340596
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EideticPrettyBoySpence/pseuds/EideticPrettyBoySpence
Summary: My desire to have a family with my boyfriend, Dr Spencer Reid, is solidified after seeing him interacting with an autistic boy on a case*if anyone has questions about Spina Bifida but doesn't feel like googling it, I would be happy to answer them as best as I can*
Relationships: Spencer Reid/Original Female Character(s)
Kudos: 7





	The Genius' Family

I've been with my boyfriend, Dr. Spencer Reid, for roughly four years. If you asked him, he would be able to tell you down to the minute how long we've been dating. But I don't have the benefit of having an eidetic memory as he does. I remember the first time I saw him when I took a seminar in college taught by him and David Rossi, but I don't remember the exact date of that seminar. He could tell you where I was sitting and what I was wearing. I remember we hit it off almost instantly after I was hired as my best friend Penelope's assistant tech analyst, but not when that was. We loved classic Dr. Who, reading, and learning, and both agreed that Star Trek was far superior to Star Wars. I could tell you exactly what he was wearing on our first official date, but he would be able to tell you every single thing that happened that day. Unfortunately for me, the only things I remember with perfect clarity are the terrible things that have happened to him, the times I almost lost him to our job. That is until the day we got a case in Lafayette Parish, Louisiana, involving a ten-year-old autistic boy named Sammy Sparks. Spencer and I were the only people on the team who were able to fully connect with him. It wasn't the first time I had seen Spencer interact with children, but it was the first time I had seen him interact with a special needs child. I've known for a while that I wanted him to be the father of my children someday, but it was then that I knew just how great of a father he would be, even if our child ended up having the same physical disability that I was born with. Spina Bifida is genetic, and we have a fifty percent chance of having a child born with it. We also have a fifty percent chance of having a child with schizophrenia. It's been a few weeks since we had seen a specialist to run some tests because Spencer had been having migraines. He has been reading everything he can get his hands on about them. We both know that there's a possibility the doctor could tell him that he's got schizophrenia; he just recently turned thirty, which is the age that the first signs could occur. But he doesn't want to think about that possibility, so we don't mention it out loud. I've been praying since the day he got his first migraine that there's a different explanation.

We're lying in bed, having just woken up a few minutes ago. Our phones buzz with a text from Hotch, a 911 saying we have a case. We undress and get in the shower. It's hard for me to keep my hands to myself, so by the time we dress we've just barely got time to stop for coffee. Spencer is carrying a book on migraines in one hand and his coffee in the other. When we reach the round table room, we sit down and wait for the case briefing to begin. We had both already looked over the case file, but of course, Spencer was finished. I still had a little bit to read, and I finish just in time. Emily comes in a few minutes late and sits in the empty seat next to me.

"Traffic. I'm sorry."

"Let's get started," Hotch says.

"Okay. Ten-year-old Sammy Sparks of Lafayette Parrish, Louisiana, showed up at his elementary school this morning covered in blood. When police got to his house, they found that his parents, Charlie and Alison Sparks, were missing."

"Well, forensics indicate that at least one of them was injured," Derek said. "And by the looks of it, it was pretty severely." 

"Has there been a ransom demand?" Emily asks.

"There's been no communication whatsoever," I answer.

"Then why call in the BAU?" Rossi asks.

"New Orleans is hoping we can interview Sammy," Hotch says.

"No one's talked to the witness yet?" Spencer asks.

"I don't understand," Seaver says. "If Sammy was covered with blood, there's a good chance he could identify the unsub."

"Sammy's autistic," Hotch says. "Getting him to tell us what happened isn't gonna be easy."

We grab our go bags and our tablets (Spencer grabs his files), and we board the jet fifteen minutes later. Spencer heads straight for the kitchenette to make coffee, and Seaver follows him. I frown in irritation when she starts flirting with him. She's been here long enough to know full well that he and I are dating, and yet it seems every time I turn around she's flirting with him anyway. Of course, I trust Spencer, and he's never once returned her advances. But it still doesn't feel good to watch. She's tall, blonde, and slim, all the things that I will never be. She could easily steal Spencer away from me if she put her mind to it. I groan as I watch Spencer and he scratches his jaw with a finger. Thinking of those fingers inside me earlier this morning before Hotch texted us to come in. They're talking about Dr. Who while they wait for the coffee to finish brewing. Or more accurately, Spencer's talking and Seaver is listening. 

"Is that the one where they fly around in the phone booth?" I roll my eyes as she speaks.

"First of all, it's a police box, not a phone booth. Second of all, Dr. Who started a quarter of a century before Bill and Ted even went on their bodacious adventure, so, really, they should have just called it 'Bill and Ted's Excellent Rip-Off.' I mean, at least then--"

"I'm really sorry," Seaver says.

"For what?"

"Asking."

I scowl as she walks away from him and goes to sit down across from Hotch. As much as she flirts with him, she often cuts Spencer's info dumps off. I'm pretty much the only person who listens to him, even if I don't understand what he's talking about. Derek listens a lot, too, but he often makes fun of him. I know as well as Spencer does that his teasing is from a place of love. But it still hurts him sometimes. My boyfriend fixes two cups of coffee and comes to sit next to me. I smile as he sets one of the mugs in front of me.

"Good morning, angels. New information to report," Penelope pops up on the laptop. "The blood at the crime scene matched type to Charlie Sparks, so we can assume that he is the injured party."

"Well, shell casings by the door says he was shot. Are we looking at a robbery gone wrong?"

"No robber would break into a family residence before the start of school and not expect to find people home."

"No, I think he came for Charlie and Alison Sparks. He planned the abduction and then gained entry into the house."

"But the scene is frenzied, disorganized," Rossi says. "He didn't think it through."

"I hate to say it, but could Sammy be our unsub?" Seaver asks.

"I don't think so. What's the number one motive of kidnapping?"

"Financial gain."

"Yeah, well, if that's the case, they are barking up the wrong money tree," I say as I pull up a file on my tablet. "The family runs a music store that's been Sparks owned since the 1940s, but business is down and a loan against the house is the only thing keeping that store afloat."

"The unsub should have done his research."

"Well, he may have. This area was devastated by the oil spill," Emily says. "A little money would go a long way here."

Once we touch down at the airport we split up into three groups. Dave, Spencer, and I go to the police station. Hotch sends Seaver and Emily to the parents' music store, and he and Derek go to the Sparks house. Once we arrived at the police station, an officer takes us to where Sammy is. The boy is drawing in a sketchpad with crayons as we walk slowly in. We don't want to startle or upset the boy.

"Hi, Sammy. I'm Dr. Spencer Reid. This is Nyssa, my girlfriend. What are you drawing?"

The officer reaches for Sammy's shoulder, touching him gently before I can do more than open my mouth. The boy screams and begins rocking back and forth to comfort himself. I was going to tell him that most autistic children don't react well to touch, especially from people they don't know well. It's the same for autistic adults, even ones who just have Asperger's, like Spencer. I had been working at the BAU for almost a year before he was comfortable with even accidental touches. It was over a year before he'd accept my hugs.

"Some autistic children don't handle touch well," I say, even though it's obvious at this point.

"It's possible witnessing his parent's abduction pushed him into emotional overload and he shut down," Spencer says.

"Look at that, is he trying to tell us something?" Rossi pointed at his notepad.

"Sammy. We're looking for your mom and dad. Did 'L' take them?" Spencer sat on the table in front of Sammy, moving slowly so as not to startle the young boy further into his shell.

"What do you need, rock star?" Penelope asks as I dial her number.

"Hey, do me a favor and run a list of all known associates to the Sparks family," I keep an ear on Spencer as I talk to Penny. "Focus on everyone whose first or last name begins with the letter 'L'."

After a while, we realize that we aren't going to get anywhere with Sammy right now. So we head to his elementary school to talk to his teacher about him, and about the morning his parents were abducted. She leads us outside so we can walk and talk since it's a nice day. I absently slip my hand into Spencer's as we walk, and the older woman smiles at us knowingly.

"We don't really have special resources to accommodate children like Sammy. So he's in with everybody else."

"Can he comprehend the material?" Rossi asks.

"You know, I've done my best to research alternative teaching methods, but there's only so much I can do."

"Children with autism normally think very logically," Spencer says. "Their minds can pick up patterns that ours normally wouldn't recognize."

"Hmm. Yes, that's right," she replies and I laugh because of course, it is. "I've found that repetition and routine are the keys to getting through to him."

"You know, that makes sense. Repetition forms patterns on the brain, and as those patterns reoccur, it forms a calming influence on the child."

"Which would allow new information to be retained. I'm sure Sammy's parents figured that out, too."

"His parents most likely kept him on a strict daily schedule," I say.

"Oh, like clockwork."

"That's how Sammy was able to walk from his house to school yesterday. He'd memorized the route."

"Yeah, it's 7:45, time for him to go to school," Spencer says. "He doesn't think to wait for mom or dad. He simply grabs an empty lunchbox and heads here."

"If Sammy was living on a strict routine, that means Charlie and Alison were, too," Rossi says.

"Which would have only made them easier targets."

"I'm not sure how we're going to be able to get through to him," Spencer looks in at Sammy when we get back to the station. "Sammy's teacher says he's never even been able to return his own mother's hug."

"Garcia, what have you got?" Emily asks.

"Oh, E, I wish I could be more help. If this is about money, it would be a hell of a lot easier for me to give you a list of people who wouldn't need it," Penelope says. "And I'd probably save a forest in the process. Due to the spill, fisherman and fishing-related industries have been hit the worst."

"Sheriff, was it common knowledge that the Sparks had gotten this loan?" Hotch asks.

"I knew. A loan around here was like winning the lottery."

"So why no ransom note?" Emily asks.

"Maybe the unsub thinks he can get the money directly from the source, cut out the middleman."

"You think he'll use one of the parents as leverage to get the other to clear out their accounts," Seaver says.

"He already shot Charlie," Spencer says quickly. "It shouldn't be that hard to get Alison to do what he wants if he offers medical assistance in exchange."

"I think he just did," I say.

"What have you got?" Hotch asks.

"I froze the Sparks' assets earlier today, but someone at the Bayside branch one Parish over just managed to withdraw $10,000 from their joint savings account."

"Penelope, call the branch. If they're still there, don't let them leave."

"Yeah."

"We're probably too late," Emily says.

"If the unsub has what he's after, Sammy's parents just became expendable," Rossi says.

There isn't much for us to do but wait for a while, and so Spencer goes off into a corner to read. I follow him and he quirks an eyebrow at me before offering me his lap. I curl up on his lap and fall asleep until Penelope texts me. My phone goes off at the same time, telling me my search came up empty. I head back into one of the offices where the rest of the team is, and Penelope was in the middle of telling them the same thing. We had both run searches just in case we came up with different 'L' names. I had even run the number fifty.

"Nyssa and I have run every 'L' we could find, think of, or make up in our giant magic heads, and nothing hits."

"I even ran the number fifty in case Sammy has some sort of predilection to roman numerals. Came up dry." I add with a shrug.

"Have either of you had any luck on finding Sammy's next of kin?"

"In name only. Charlie has a sister named Elizabeth that was last reported residing in Mont Belvieu, Texas."

"But she's not responding to calls or email," I say.

"Elizabeth. The 'L' could stand for Liz or Lizzie," Spencer says, smiling at me proudly.

"Garcia, we need you to find her, and fast."

"I will move so fast, the earth will reverse its rotation and time bend backward. Hello."

"All right, so this unsub has the money he needs. Why hasn't he let the Sparks go?"

"He has to be holding them for a reason."

"We might have an answer to that," Seaver and Emily return just then.

"Alison tried to withdraw $40,000 from the branch in Bayside, but she only got $10,000."

"So maybe he's holding them until he gets the money he needs," Hotch says.

"I think it's more than that. I think he wants a specific amount."

"Alison kept telling the bank manager that 10 grand wasn't enough," Seaver says.

"That says to me he's told them what would be."

I know it's time to deliver the profile, and Hotch says the same thing. We gather the cops and Derek starts the profile.

"We believe the man we are looking for is in danger of losing a home, property, or a business."

"That's most of the area," an officer interrupts.

"We want to focus on residents with large families," Hotch says. "Single-income households, anyone with financial responsibility to others."

"That responsibility is probably what drove the unsub into action. Now, he had no intention of hurting either of his victims."

"For him, the abduction of Charlie and Alison Sparks was an unfortunate but necessary means to an end."

"This area has been ravaged by last summer's oil spill," I say. "So look for down and out fishermen, look for boat owners or anyone who used to work in the tourist or beach industries."

"And compare that list to people working part-time or under-the-table jobs," Hotch continues. "This unsub didn't start with extortion, he was pushed there."

"This man feel such a strong obligation to his dependents that he's willing to kidnap and steal from people he knows," Emily says.

"He may be in the process of losing someone close to him or has already. Look at recent divorce filings, child custody cases. The unsub went to a bank in the next parish. That tells us he has his own mode of transportation, and he is conscious of the FBI's involvement in this case."

"By now he realizes the Sparks' accounts are frozen, so he'll be seeking alternative ways to get the rest of the money he needs. So canvas banks, pawnshops, anyplace that offers quick cash with minimal questions. Thank you very much," I finish.

I go in to sit with Sammy and Rossi, and not long after, Sammy's autism therapist arrives. I was watching Sammy draw and I realize he may not be able to tell us verbally who took his parents, but he definitely knows.

"Oh, he's been busy. What are those?"

"We have no idea. We're trying to find his aunt right now, but we were hoping in the meantime, you'd be able to help us get through to him," Spencer says.

"I'll try, but even before this happened, Sammy wasn't wild about talking," she sits next to the boy and pulls something out of her bag.

"What's that?" Rossi asks.

"These help some kids with autism learn routines."

"School bus leaves at 2:15."

"Sammy, what's this?"

"Do you have any idea what that 'L' might stand for?" Spencer asks.

"I have no idea. Sammy. Sammy, you're safe. It's me, Ms. Rogers," Sammy had started rocking. "I'm here. I'm here, Sammy. You're safe. Sammy. Sammy."

Suddenly Sammy started moving his fingers on his sketch pad. None of us knew for sure what he meant, not even Ms. Rogers.

"I've never seen that. I don't know what that is," Ms. Rogers says.

"Is he trying to type?" Rossi asked

"I don't think so. I think he's trying to play something," Spencer says. "Can we get a keyboard in here?"

"There's a piano at his house."

"You want to take a ten-year-old boy back to the crime scene where his father was shot?" Ms. Rogers asks.

"Sammy's trying to tell us something," Spencer says. "I think it's important we try to figure out what."

"Well, who decides whether the harm to Sammy's well-being is worth whatever information you may or may not get by doing such a thing?" Ms. Rogers asks, just as Emily brings someone in the room. "He's a child, and I don't think you get to choose what's best for him."

"Everyone, this is Lizzie Sparks, Sammy's aunt," Emily brings someone in the room before I can cuss Ms. Rogers out. 

I can't believe she had the audacity to talk to Spencer like that. As if he would do something intentionally to harm Sammy. We leave the bou in the conference room to draw while we talk. Spencer sits on an abandoned desk and I climb up to sit next to him. I'm glad Lizzie is here to help us decide, because Ms. Sparks is getting on my last nerve. Spencer wouldn't suggest this if he thought it wouldn't be safe.

"I still don't see why you have to take him back to that place."

"Sammy was playing the piano when his parents were abducted, so taking him back to the exact location might trigger an important response," Spencer explains the reasoning behind his suggestion.

"No, but he's fragile. It could also wound him further."

"I'm not sure what I'm supposed to do here," Lizzie says slowly. 

"You're Sammy's legal guardian right now," I explain. "The decision's yours."

"No, he barely knows her. Lizzie, is it? For all we know, she's the 'L' he's afraid of."

"Sammy saw his aunt and didn't even react," Spencer says. "If she was the abductor, we'd have seen a visceral response."

"You can't be sure of that. He's in shock."

"We are running a background check right now," Emily says.

"On me?"

"It's just procedure. But you have to decide. What do you want us to do?"

Lizzie Sparks thinks for a while, asking us questions to make up her mind. After we assured her he'd be safe, she agrees that Rossi, Spencer and I can bring Sammy back to his house. But she says sahe wants to go along with him and makes us promise if he was in distress, that we would get him out. Which of course we agreed to, since we were planning on doing just that anyway. So we drive back to the Sparks' house and walk inside slowly. He starts playing with his train along the edge of his piano.

"When was the last time that you saw him?" Rossi asks his aunt.

"His fifth birthday."

"Five years."

"Charlie and I had a fight. It got ugly. I haven't seen either one of them since. Do you think Charlie's gonna be okay?"

Sammy sits down at his piano after a while and Spencer takes his bag off his shoulder. He's so good with him, probably because he understands him. He's never been diagnosed, but we both realize he's got a lot of characteristics of Asperger's.

"Sammy, would it be all right if I sat here?"

He sat slowly down on the bench next to Sammy and played a scale. A moment later the boy plays the same scale an octave higher.

"Woah. You've been holding out on me, Sammy."

"I didn't know you could play, babe," I say, impressed.

"I can't. Well I never have before, but it's essentially all math. Sammy, how about you play this note for yes, and this note... for no. Does that sound like something you can do?" Sammy plays the note for yes, and Spencer smiles. "Yeah. Exactly. Just like that. Now, Sammy, do you remember when the man came and took your parents away?" Sammy plays 'yes' again, several times, then moves into playing a classical piece, and Spencer asks him another question. "Sammy, I don't understand. Does this song mean something to you?"

Sammy slowly reaches over to take Spencer's hand, moving it into position on the piano. I cover my mouth with my hand as tears come to my eyes. It has to be the cutest moment I've ever seen, and powerful because he boy wouldn't do it with just anyone. He plays a phrase a few times before Spencer joins in. I realize Sammy must have been playing it when his parents were abducted. I'm so mesmerised by watching them play I don't notice Lizzie and Rossi leave the room. Until Rossi comes back, calling Spencer's name.

"Reid, take a look at this."

"What, at Sammy's flip book?"

"Not just a flip book. His routine. Shower, brush teeth, dress. His entire life is planned in order."

"Maybe we can figure out where Sammy met the unsub."

"He already figured it out."

Spencer takes the flip book and flips a few pages. "Sammy sees his life in pictures. He's been trying to speak with us. He only knows how to communicate through symbols," he digs Sammy's pictures out of his bag. "Look it's his language. Anchors, like my socks. and that's the tread on your shoes. What does the 'L' mean? It's not an 'L'."

"It's a time," I say.

"3:00. The time Sammy wants us to know about, the time that he met the unsub."

"Where was he at 3:00?" Lizzie asks.

"2:30, music store. He goes there every day after school," Rossi says. "And he doesn't leave until the store closes at 6:00."

"Hey, Sammy. Sammy, it's almost 3:00," Spencer sets his watch to 3 and shows Sammy. "Is there someplace you should be?"

"Should be store," Sammy says.

"No. No, let him go," Rossi says as Lizzie tries to stop Sammy leaving. "Hotch, I think we've got something."

"Morgan, we need to fast-forward to 3 PM," Spencer says as we walk in the store. "If I'm right the unsub is somewhere on this tape."

"Wait a minute, here's when Sammy gets to the store," Morgan says. "They changed the music, why would they do that?"

"It's for Sammy," I say softly. "Classical is more soothing than hard rock."

After a while, Sammy sits down at a keyboard and starts playing the same song. It's the song that was playing on the tape, that was playing when he first encountered the unsub. Rossi and Spencer look over at him as he plays.

"That's the song."

"Sammy's been trying to tell us who took his parents all along. At 3 PM the song plays, the same some every day at the same time because Charlie Sparks puts the CD in at 2:30 when Sammy arrives," Spencer says quickly, moving back to the security camera footage.  
"Sammy's never late because Sammy sticks to a schedule, a routine. Thirty minutes later... this man arrives. A delivery man with a routine all his own. We need to figure out who that is because he's our unsub."

"Penelope, it's me. I just sent you security cam footage," I hook my laptop up to the security camera. "We need to know everything about that man, he's our unsub."

"Former fisherman turned part-time delivery man, saddled with more debt than he and his recently removed sons could sustain, including a foreclosing house and a defaulted boat loan. Why didn't you tell me you were looking for Bill Thomas at 1024 Elmwood Avenue?"

"And his boat?"

"Docked in the marina."

"We're closer to the house," a cop says on the other line.

"Okay, we'll take the boat. Let's go," Derek says.

We get our bulletproof vests on before we drive to the marina. When we get there, we see Bill Thomas on his boat. Not long after that Morgan's phone rings and he picks it up. I step up to Spencer and subtly maneuver myself a step ahead of him.

"Morgan, he's not here."

"I know, Hotch. We got him. Bill Thomas! This is the FBI! Give yourself up! Your boat is surrounded! We don't want anyone else to get hurt, Bill. Turn yourself in! All right, listen up. We move in as soon as SWAT is in position."

"What's going on in there?" Spencer asks.

But we don't have a chance for SWAT to get into position before a shot rings out. When we swarm the boat we see Bill on the ground, Alison crying as she lays in her husband's lap. It's not hard to see that Charlie is already dead. A gun is laying next to Alison. Derek walks over to her and bends down to pick up the gun, and I check Bill's pulse. Even though I know he won't have one. It's not long until the medical examiner comes to take both bodies away. Alison follows Spencer off the boat, and a patrol car pulls up. Sammy and Lizzie climb out, and Alison walks slowly toward her son. They meet halfway, and my heart breaks when I realize Sammy is looking for his dad. Alison drops to her knees in front of Sammy, whose fingers are tapping on his leg. I sob softly as the boy lifts a hand to pat his mother on the shoulder, and Spencer wraps his arms around me from behind. I lean against him as I watch Sammy with his mother. Lizzie sees one of the bodies, and she seems to instinctively know it's her brother's. Sammy walks over to Spencer and wraps both arms around his waist. My boyfriend is surprised, but slowly returns the hug. He doesn't want to do anything Sammy's uncomfortable with.

Once we say goodbye to Sammy, Lizzie and Alison, we head back to the precinct. Once we get back to the BAU, we head to the bullpen. I take the paperwork I need to Spencer's desk so we can fill it out together. He still finishes it way before I do, of course, but he waits for me to finish before getting up from his desk. When we get home, Spencer pulls me to the couch and I sit down. We spend time watching old reruns of Star Trek. After a while I decide to say what's been on my mind for a few days. I clear my throat and Spencer looks over.

"What is it, little girl? Are you okay?"

"I just, um... have you ever... thought about kids?"

"What? I- yeah, actually, but- I don't know how good of a father I'd be."

"Because of your experience with your father? Hey, listen to me. You're the best man I've ever known, Spencer Reid. You're so great with Henry and Jack. Every time a case involves a child, you're the one they connect with first. Especially with Sammy. His therapist said he's never returned his own mothers hug, but he hugged you goodbye. So I know without a shadow of a doubt you would be a better father than William was. Because you're a better man than he could ever hope to be."

"I love you more than anything, little girl. It would be great to have a family with you someday."

"I've known since almost the day we met I would love to have children with you. There's no one else I'd rather be with, no one else I would want to be the father of my children. At least two little geniuses running around here. I can't think of anything better."

We fall into silence after that and watch tv until my eyelids get heavy. I barely register Spencer picking me up, but I wake up in bed. His arm is draped over my waist, and I turn gently to face him. I brush his hair from his face, careful not to wake him. But not much longer after that, he smiles softly without opening his eyes. He reaches out and links our fingers together.

"I can feel you watching me, little girl. Don't you know it's rude to watch someone sleep?"

"I'm sorry I can't help it, my boyfriend is just so beautiful. I didn't want to wake him up though, he doesn't get enough sleep."

"We don't have a case so we should go back to sleep. We can wake up later, and I'll make brunch, okay?"

"Yeah, okay. Sounds good, little girl. I love you, you know."

"I know, Spencer, I love you too. Goodnight."

"Goodnight, my love."

The next morning I wake up and go to the bathroom to shower. After I'm done, I feel nauseous, and I'm barely able to make it to the toilet before I throw up. I must have eaten something that gave me food poisoning. But then I think back and realize my period is late. I leave Spencer sleeping and walk to the corner store to get a pregnancy test. I don't want to wait until I go home so I ask where the bathroom is. I take the pregnancy test out of the box and pee on it, waiting anxiously for it to work. After three minutes, I pick it up and look at it. My heart skips a beat when I see the positive result, and I panic a little. What is Spencer going to say? Will he be upset?

Just then Spencer texts me asking where I am. I tell him I just went out to get coffee and I'll be home soon. I walk across the street to Starbucks and order our usual. Ten minutes later our coffee is ready and I walk back home. I take a deep breath and walk inside. 

"Spence, I- I'm home. Coffee's up."

"Hey, little girl," Spencer comes out in just sweatpants. "This is a nice surprise."

"Actually, I... I wasn't exactly truthful. I went out to- I went to the corner store. My period was late and..."

"Nyssa, are you-" Spencer walks over and puts a hand on my shoulder. "Are you pregnant?"

Instead of answering I cover a sob with my hand. Spencer wraps me in a hug, rubbing my back softly. I wrap my arms around his waist, clinging to him as I cry. He murmurs softly to me and kisses the top of my head. Finally I stop crying enough that I can look at him. His face is full of pure shock, and I bite my lip and look away again. He catches my hand as I try to wrap my arms around myself.

"Spencer, I- there's still time to... or putting it up for adoption is always an option."

"You want to get rid of it? Aren't you happy?"

"Of course I'm happy, but I know-" I take a deep breath. "I know you're not ready."

"Is anyone ever really ready? Nyssa, look at me. I'm so happy, okay? I can't wait to meet them," Spencer squeezes my hand. "You're going to be the best mother, little girl. I'm not sure how good of a father I'll be, but I'm going to try my best."

"Listen to me, Spencer. You are not your father, okay? You are a better man than he could ever be. This baby is going to be so lucky. I've seen you with Jack and Henry. They adore you, and you're so good with them. I know you're going to be the best father."

"You really think so? You know, statistically-"

"Screw statistics, Spencer. Trust me, you'll be great."

"We make a pretty great team. I know we'll be great together."

"We always are. And always will be."


End file.
